Such mooring line connector assemblies are known from, for instance, U.S. Pat. No. 8,683,935 B2, EP 2.414.217 A1 or equivalent patent publication WO 2010/112603 A1, EP 2.154.059 A1, WO 2013/124717 A1, U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,428 B1 or WO 2006/041904 A1.
WO 2010/112603 A1 describes a mooring leg connector for use with a mooring leg extending up from the sea floor to connect a floating structure to the seabed. Disconnection and connection of the mooring leg is done by pulling in and out a connector body extending in the mooring leg direction. The connector body is received in a housing which is fixed to the structure to be moored. A latch mechanism is provided with guiding means and orientation pins between the body of the connector and the housing to provide the connector body and the housing with the proper orientation with respect to each other for establishing the connection.
A disadvantage of the mooring leg connector of WO 2010/112603 A1 is that during connection the mooring leg exerts a so-called “restoring torque” on the latching mechanism, thereby hindering the connection operation, in particular proper rotational alignment of the connector body and the housing. Additionally, after connection a residual torque may be present in the mooring leg, which leads to a shorter operational life of the mooring leg and/or the mooring line connector assembly.
An object of the present invention is thus to provide a mooring line connector assembly, wherein the effects of the restoring torque on the connection process are eliminated or at least minimized.
Another object of the invention is to provide a mooring line connector assembly, wherein the operational life of the mooring line is improved.